


Endoskeletons and Sugar-Water

by Not_You



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Anal Sex, Body Horror, Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, POV Animal, Pheromones, Swarm, Workplace Relationship, but in a really cuddly way? idk what you call it when a guy has bees in him but doesn't mind, buzz - Freeform, horrible insectoid cuddles, sugar-water, the pain's bees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 02:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14392212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: The swarm does not have much of a concept of longing, but they know that their queen wants something She cannot reach, and this makes them restive and determined to help.  It’s a complicated problem, but they put their antennae together and agree: whatever their queen wants, She shall have.





	Endoskeletons and Sugar-Water

They know that Her Royal Majesty is not actually an insect, but all the same, She takes such tender care of them and communicates so clearly, not making the pointless noises that mammals always do. She barely counts, really, full of invertebrate wisdom, and with the High Priestess to translate for Her. The swarm loves both of them dearly, their natural mother and the one who nurtures them all even within Her own massive body, sharing Her miraculous and eternal warmth with them, keeping them alive in the cold seasons. She is a very good queen.

The swarm’s love for their queen is why they notice some of the mammalian pheromones She still has. There’s one that’s almost like mating factor, but the one that really worries them is something more subtle. The swarm does not have much of a concept of longing, but they know that their queen wants something She cannot reach, and this makes them restive and determined to help. It’s a complicated problem, but they put their antennae together and agree: whatever their queen wants, She shall have.

It takes a long time to fully attune themselves to this weird mammalian not-quite-hunger smell, but they figure it out after a while. It always gets stronger when they’re around Spider-Smell Human. They like Spider-Smell Human, even though spider-smell is nasty. He gives them sugar water and doesn’t jump around when they come close, the way Rain-Smell Human sometimes does. Ancient Human is calm too, but he doesn’t give them sugar water and sometimes his bird tries to eat them. Mostly she doesn’t, since of course they sting her when she tries, but it’s very irksome. 

Fire-Smell Human barely seems to notice them, and Human-Queen sometimes waves them away irritably, which they do not appreciate, but she also sometimes gives them sugar, so they can’t really dislike her. Spider-Smell Human is more reliable, though, even if he makes weird fear-smells at their queen sometimes. He makes other smells, though, smells like hunger, and it all comes together for the swarm when they realize that their queen wants him for a drone. 

The swarm supposes that it makes sense. Spider-Smell Human is very elegant and graceful, for a human, with his long, slender limbs, flexible joints, and quick, agile movements. Her Royal Majesty is incredibly graceful for a being of Her vastness, but only Spider-Smell Human really comes close to insect agility. It’s odd that he doesn’t have more confidence in his considerable charms. A little fear is normal, queens are formidable, but Her Royal Majesty is very encouraging. They would wonder if Spider-Smell Human really was a quality drone, but of course Her Royal Majesty must be right about him.

With that in mind, the swarm keeps their myriad eyes on Spider-Smell Human. They’re very upset when he disappears one day, and their mood is not much improved when he comes back with blood and pain and chemical smells on him. They buzz around and around him where he’s lying down and smelling like pain, trying to figure out what has wounded their queen’s prospective mate. He makes some mammal noises at them and then at Rain-Smell Human, who gives them sugar for the first time in his life. The sugar is as good as ever, but the swarm is still perturbed, and they go back to their queen wishing that they had something definitive to report.

The High Priestess tells them that Her Royal Majesty wants them to be calm, and so they try, even if Her favored drone is hurt. At least She goes to visit him, so the whole swarm can be close to both of them at once. Spider-Smell Human seems properly grateful for the attention of Her Royal Majesty, and they make mammal noises to one another and She strokes his hair with one gentle claw. A few of them crawl down Her foreleg to make a closer inspection of Spider-Smell Human, who does smell something like mating factor.

Of course Her Royal Majesty must wait for Her drone to be fit, but when the pain smell and most of the chemical smells are long gone and there has still been no mating flight, the swarm is very concerned. The High Priestess says that humans are complicated and take great amounts of time over these things, but that only calms them a little. They buzz around and around Spider-Smell Human, wishing he could understand their encouraging pheromones. Instead, he fills the air with so many sad, unanswered alarm pheromones that one of them stings him out of sheer nerves. He yelps and the whole swarm is deeply chagrined, flying back to Her Royal Majesty in defeat.

Her Royal Majesty goes to Her drone and applies some chemical to his claw. The swarm sticks very close to their queen, wings humming in the most soothing way they can manage.

_”They so seldom sting anyone I don’t tell them to,” the Pain says, looking troubled even behind his mask. “I’m sorry, Fear.”_

_The Fear just tries to keep breathing because the Pain is sitting on his bed and holding his hand in both his own massive, scarred ones. The wasps crawling over him buzz quietly, like they have no interest in stinging anyone, and the Fear does his best not to tremble. So many people are repelled by things that frighten them, but he just wants to get as close to the Pain as possible, bury himself in that alien mystery._

_“It’s all right,” is what he says, and it sounds pallid and weak, hanging there between them._

_The Fear’s hand still hurts, but the ointment is helping, and the Pain is still holding it. Fuck, his palms are so smooth compared to the rest of him. He can’t help but wonder what the Pain’s cock is like. It’s far from the first time, but they’re so close now that he really hopes he’s not blushing. He risks a glance up, and finds himself looking straight into the Pain’s eyes. They’re beautiful, a strange, very dark grey that the Fear has never seen on anyone else._

_“You’re not afraid of them,” the Pain says, “and that’s usually what makes them sting.”_

_“Well...” It shouldn’t be this hard. He and the Pain have saved each other’s lives, seen each other in compromising positions, and both of them are engaged in things far, far weirder than just being a cocksucker, and yet. “I guess I’ve been edgy, lately.”_

_“I told you not to mix those painkillers,” the Pain grumbles, and the Fear laughs, looking down at their joined hands again._

_He can’t find the words he needs in any language, so he brings the Pain’s massive, long-fingered hands up to his mouth and kisses them. The backs first, all pebbled with scars, and then the palm side, smooth and soft except for the gun calluses they all have. The Pain shivers, watching him in humming silence._

Of course large creatures with endoskeletons are incapable of a proper mating flight, and Her Royal Majesty and Spider-Smell Human don’t even get as close as they could, but they do curl up in bed together, making soft mammal noises and pressing their mouthparts to each other. It’s a little like they’re trying to eat each other, but they smell pretty relaxed, so it must be all right. The swarm has seen Human-Queen and Rain-Smell Human do some of this kind of thing, and they seem to be fine.

Her Royal Majesty’s happy pheromones make them all feel a little drunk, and the flesh-eaters stored within Her body join in the song of the massed swarm’s wings. Spider-Smell Human lets out little puffs of fear-scent, but it’s almost buried in the mating factor as he presses as close to Her Royal Majesty’s body as he can, all four skinny limbs hanging on to Her.

The real mating flight occurs a week later, and the swarm sends up a vast and humming song, filling their queen’s room with their joyful buzz in counterpoint to Spider-Smell Human’s harsh cries as he and their queen rock together in that mammalian way. The motion is strange, but the swarm can follow the basic rhythm. Her Royal Majesty clutches at Spider-Smell Human with Her claws, and makes soft mammal noises at him, in between loud breathing. A few of the swarm stay close to Her, just to be sure that She is all right. She smells healthy, and Spider-Smell Human has one claw wrapped around Her strange, mammalian ovipositor. As far as the swarm can see, it doesn’t work, the High Priestess does all the egg-laying, but it is still worthy of veneration, and they are pleased to see Her drone stroking that heavy flesh over and over, each pass making Her Royal Majesty’s scent stronger and more dizzying.

_A lot of the Pain’s body is smooth. His inner thighs, his cock, and the skin on his balls and around his hole is no surprise, but his belly and his chest only have a little scarring, and the undersides of his upper arms and the skin around his nipples are all sleek and perfect. The Fear tests every square inch he can reach with his lips while he grinds as deep into the Pain as he can, squeezing the Pain’s cock and covering it in its own slick. None of the swarm seem inclined to sting, not even the ones that seem to be standing watch, resting on the pillow, wings softly droning along with the general hum._

_Even the Pain’s mouth-wasps are buzzing, somewhere deep inside him. The vibration is good and off-putting at the same time, and the Fear just sinks into the feeling as the Pain growls filthy encouragement, those big hands on the Fear’s ass hauling him in on each thrust. He can’t help the sounds spilling out of his mouth, and he’s just glad that he’s still not quite as loud as the Sorrow gets sometimes._

Afterward, the swarm slowly lowers its song to silence, clustered all around their queen and Her favored drone. Today has been an excellent day. The flesh-eaters are drunk on Her Royal Majesty’s endorphins, and the rest of the swarm cuddle into big masses beside their queen, who chuckles and emits pleased smells. Spider-Smell Human is resting on Her thorax, and seems to be most of the way asleep. A few of them land on his back, marking him with the smell of the hive, because he is theirs now. No one will ever sting him again, unless he asks them to, no matter how well it served everyone this last time.

Things are so slumberous that most of the swarm dozes off for a while, but a few of them are on alert on the margins, and they emit low-level alarm pheromones when the door opens. They relax when they see that it’s just Ancient Human, and his bird is barely awake, not in a hunting mood. Ancient Human looks into the room, seeing Spider-Smell Human and Her Royal Majesty asleep together, covered in the drowsy swarm, and chuckles. He leaves, and returns in a few minutes with a tray. There are two cups of coffee, and a broad, shallow dish of sugar water. Ancient Human sets the tray on the table by the bed, and shuffles out of the room again, taking his obnoxious bird with him. 

The swarm takes it in turns to drink their fill, and then rise in a cloud when Her Royal Majesty begins to stir. She sits up slowly, shifting Spider-Smell Human to rest on one foreleg, stretching out the other for one of the cups. Even though coffee smells metallic and uninteresting, some of them land low on Her foreleg again. The High Priestess relays the usual command to sting. Her Royal Majesty benefits from their venom, and likes two stings when She wakes up, to go with the coffee. Spider-Smell Human just makes a quiet noise and nestles even closer. Her Royal Majesty presses Her mouthparts to his head, and makes soft mammal noises at him until he sits up enough to take his cup, sipping his coffee as he watches the swarm drink their sugar-water. The swarm decides that today is going to be a good day, and a few of them land on his shoulders out of sheer affection, pleased at how relaxed he smells.


End file.
